Corn-fed to pasture-mimic: contrasting fatty-acid signatures in Mangalica backfat

Backfat fatty-acid composition in Mangalica pigs was evaluated under four practical on-farm feeding regimens: a standard diet, two corn-concentrate diets containing approximately 46.5 % and 93 % corn, and a pasture-mimic diet based on lucerne pellets with supplemental boiled acorns. Sixty pigs were allocated to the four regimens and slaughtered in three batches. Backfat fatty acids were analysed as methyl esters by gas chromatography with flame-ionisation detection and expressed as relative percentages of total detected fatty acids. Two-way analysis of variance showed that feeding regimen, slaughter batch, and their interaction influenced the relative proportions of selected fatty acids. Oleic acid remained predominant in all regimens, but the response of palmitic, stearic, and linoleic acids was stage-dependent. The high-corn regimen differed most clearly in the final batch, with higher palmitic and stearic acid and lower linoleic acid, than the other feeding regimens. The results indicate that feeding strategy can modulate Mangalica backfat composition although the effect depends strongly on the finishing stage.